IT WAS 30 YEARS AGO TODAY- WHY DEC.27, 1979 MATTERS

We always acknowledge and like to remember anniversaries of certain historical events. This year, we marked the 40th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon as well as the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. Last year we noted the 30th anniversary of Jonestown in Guyana.
In 1979, there were many newsworthy events and some of those events continue to affect the geo-political world today. The Shah of Iran was sent into exile and the Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from exile, while Iranian “students” stormed and held 53 US embassy staff employees hostage. ABC’s nightline was born and counted the days ultimately resulting in 444 days of captive activity. Needless to say, we have been at odds with Iran ever since. Day one was November 4th, 1979. Saddam Hussein took power in Iraq in 1979. In the US, Three Mile Island, the worst nuclear disaster in US history occurred. And Sony released the cassette Walkman and set the stage for portable music other than a radio.

But on December 27, 1979 at 7pm, 700 Soviet troops dressed in Afghan uniforms, occupied major governmental, military and media buildings in Kabul, Afghanistan including their primary target - the Tajbeg Presidential Palace and Afghan president Hafizullah Amin was assassinated.

Afghanistan, so ever present in the news and on the minds of Americans today, was at peace back then. The Soviets continued to occupy the country until February 1989, almost 10 years of occupation. In that time, the cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States escalated into such a serious atmosphere that world peace was at stake. The US countered the Soviets with CIA funded and armed operations for the Afghans, the Mujahadeen, and Afghan Freedom Fighters to fend off the mighty Soviet Army. This was known as Charlie Wilson’s War.
Danny, our hero in Overland, was first hand witness to this event. In fact, he found himself right in the middle of it. He couldn’t escape Kabul that day as most of the other Western travelers did. Find out how Danny outwit and survived the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on December 27, 1979 by reading OVERLAND.
You will be absolutely amazed what happens next.

Mark Stephen Levy recently published his novel Overland, a fictional account of an American stranded in Kabul on December, 27, 1979